The Cardinals kept the momentum rolling Monday afternoon, edging the Reds 2-1 on the road in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
St. Louis came in with a little bounce after winning two straight and taking a weekend series from the Cubs, and the club backed that up with another clean win. It wasn’t an offensive explosion, but the Cardinals did enough and leaned on a strong pitching effort to get it done.
The story on the mound started with Mathews, who was making his second big league start and once again showed why he’s forcing attention. He wasn’t exactly economical, needing 95 pitches to get through four innings, but the results were there.
The young left-hander struck out seven, allowed just two hits and gave up one run. Through his first two major league starts, he’s sitting on a 3.00 ERA, and he’s making it tough for the Cardinals to even think about sending him back down.
After Mathews handed it off, the bullpen slammed the door. Luis Gastélum, Gordon Graceffo, George Soriano, Ryne Stanek and Riley O'Brien combined for five scoreless innings, giving up only one hit while striking out eight.
On offense, Burleson carried the load. He drove in both Cardinals runs and finished 2-for-4, pushing his season totals to 32 doubles and a league-leading 92 RBIs. Somehow, he’s still underrated.
Walker also kept trending in the right direction. After a rough start to the second half, he went 2-for-4 Monday and is now hitting .286 on the season.
St. Louis finished with just seven hits, and the bigger issue was the traffic left behind.
The Cardinals stranded nine runners, which kept the game tighter than it needed to be. Still, they escaped with the win, and there wasn’t much else to nitpick in a straightforward, well-pitched game.
The Cardinals are right back at it Monday night for the second game of the doubleheader. Andre Pallante is set to start against Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder, with Game 2 of the five-game series on deck. The series won’t finish up until Thursday afternoon.
In Other News...
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The roster changes at the deadline, including the moves involving Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar, were supposed to signal a step back, but the results have made the picture more complicated. The Cardinals are still outside the playoff field, yet they remain in the mix for a wild-card spot, which is enough to keep the conversation alive and the pressure steady. With the youth movement suddenly producing real wins, the next stretch will say plenty about whether this is a brief burst or the start of something more meaningful. [Read more 🡒]